Grandeur of Yellowstone goes on display in Denver

Denver Art Museum hosts exhibit of prints by Thomas Moran, who introduced the U.S. to Yellowstone beauty in 1876

By Courtney Holden Special to the Reporter-Herald

Posted:
10/10/2013 09:36:29 PM MDT

Thomas Moran (American, 1837-1926), "Hot Springs of Gardiner's River" from "The Yellowstone National Park, and the Mountain Regions of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah, 1876." Chromolithograph on paper. Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Neb., Gift of Gail and Michael Yanney and Lisa and Bill Roskens. (Special to Go)

The Denver Art Museum presents the beauty of Yellowstone by one of America's greatest artists in "Thomas Moran's Yellowstone: A Project for the Nation." The exhibit began Oct. 6 and run through Jan. 19, highlighting 15 of Moran's multicolored prints, or chromolithographs, that he created with chromolithographer Louis Prang.

"The project that they did together is considered to be the greatest (set of) chromolithographs ever made," said Thomas Smith, director of the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum, who co-curated the exhibition with Toby Jurovics, chief curator at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Neb. "They're just extraordinary in the execution."

Chromolithography involves using a grease-based medium to draw or paint an image on a smooth piece of limestone. The limestone is then wet with water -- getting especially moist those areas not covered with the paint -- and then covering the stone with ink, which sticks only to the grease-based medium. The ink is pressed against a paper, thereby transferring the image to the paper. In order to get different colors, the chromolithographer must use repeat the process using a separate stone. Moran's Yellowstone work required the use of 50 different colors and thus, 50 different stones.

Advertisement

GO & DO

"Thomas Moran's Yellowstone: A Project for the Nation"

When: Through Jan. 19.

Where: Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver.

Tickets: Free for members; For non-members, show included with general admission: $10-$13 adults, $8-$10 college students and seniors, $3-$5 ages 6-18, and free to age 5 and under. Free general admission on the first Saturday of every month.

"They were trying to make the best chromolithographs that they could," Smith said, noting that Moran and Prang succeeded. "They're really quite extraordinary."

With this project, Moran is credited with being the first artist to widely present the beauty of the American West in color. By presenting his collection of work, "The Yellowstone National Park and the Mountain Regions of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah," in chromolithography, more people had the opportunity to see the work than if Moran had only done a single painting. The images reached the masses.

Another important facet of the work: Moran finished his Yellowstone project in 1876, just in time for the United States' centennial celebration. Smith points out how at that time, only 10 years after the Civil War's end, the West was still largely undiscovered. The Eastern audience had generally heard its first national park described as a "hellish place," full of geysers and hot springs, Smith said. Moran's colorful images presented a different view of the park's rugged splendor.

"It became about the beauty, where before that it was described as something awful," Smith said. "(The exhibit) gives you an idea of how enchanting the West was at that moment. It gives us this idea of the power of the American West and what it held for the American imagination."

Thomas Moran (American, 1837-1926), "The Mosquito Trail, Rocky Mountains of Colorado" from "The Yellowstone National Park, and the Mountain Regions of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah," 1876. Chromolithograph on paper. Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Neb., Gift of Gail and Michael Yanney and Lisa and Bill Roskens.
(Special to Go)

In addition to the chromolithographs, the exhibit will feature an assortment of watercolors and drawings used to inform the chromolithography process, as well as one painting, since "Moran ... became so well known as the painter of Yellowstone." Smith points how Moran's process was the reverse of a typical artist's in which drawings or watercolors later respond to popular demand by being made into prints.

"We think of prints as being secondary, not as important as a watercolor or painting, but for this project, the pinnacle of the project was the chromolithographs," Smith said, adding, "when you think about it in the amount of steps it took to get to the end result, it's easy to see how impressive these chromolithographs are."

Smith notes that the exhibit has a wide appeal for kids and adults, especially for those who live in the West or have traveled to Yellowstone.

"I think it's this testament to nature and a testament to the beauty of the American West," he said. "I think it's an exhibit that everyone would enjoy."

Thomas Moran, The Castle Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin from The Yellowstone National Park, and the Mountain Regions of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah, 1876. Chromolithograph on paper. Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, Gift of Gail and Michael Yanney and Lisa and Bill Roskens.
(Special to the Reporter-Herald)